Some of the best news in years on the pay-raise front is being negated by a recent bout of inflation.

Government employment data shows one index of regional wages rising at 4-percent-plus annual pace — no better than the upswing in the local cost-of-living benchmark.

In Los Angeles and Orange counties, private-sector bosses increased weekly earnings by 4.04 percent in the year ended in May to average $1,008. Last time pay was growing faster was November 2014, and don’t forget wages only grew at a 1.7 annual pace in the post-recession days of 2011-15.

In the Inland Empire, earnings rose 4.14 percent in the year ended in May to average $809 — the fifth consecutive month above 4 percent. Last time pay in Riverside and San Bernardino counties was rising this quickly was March 2009 — and pay advanced at a mere 0.3 percent annual rate in 2011-15.

But you can blame a continued uptick in regional housing costs and a sharp reversal in gasoline prices for limiting the buying power of these recent pay hikes.

Pay is up in large part because Southern California can’t easily find workers to hire. May’s unemployment rate for the four-county region was 3.7 percent vs. 4.3 a year ago and a 7.3 percent 5-year average. The number of jobless has been roughly halved: 321,800 in May vs. an average 616,237 in the previous five years.

But fatter paychecks are up against rising costs as inflation in Los Angeles and Orange counties rose at a 4 percent annual rate in June vs. up 2.9 percent nationally.

The change in the two-county region’s Consumer Price Index compares with a 2.8 percent gain for all of 2007, and a most-recent high was 4.5 percent in September 2008. A month earlier, L.A.-O.C.’s inflation rate was 4.1 percent; nationally, it was 2.8 percent. (Note: A new Inland Empire CPi does not offer year-over-year comparisons.)

Here are six local inflation trends from June you should be watching …

1. Overall housing costs in L.A.-O.C. rose 4.9 percent in the past year, according to CPI math. The CPI’s rent index was up 4.7 percent in a year.

The overdue pay hikes, for those who get them, will certainly be appreciated by the region’s workforce for now. Inflation’s bite, however, could chill any possible jump in consumer enthusiasm that higher salaries could bring.

Jonathan Lansner has been the Orange County Register's business columnist since 1997 and has been part of the newspaper's coverage of the local business scene since 1986. He is a native New Yorker who is a past national president of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. Jon lives in Trabuco Canyon -- yes, a homeowner -- and when he's not fiddling with his trusty spreadsheet at work you can likely find him rooting for his beloved Anaheim Ducks or umpiring local lacrosse games.